Philadelphia Eagles Controversy: Chip Kelly Responds to Racist Claims by NFL Fans, Players
It's been a rather bizarre offseason for the Philadelphia Eagles.
For the second straight offseason, they stunned the NFL world by cutting ties with one of their best players. The Eagles traded away LeSean McCoy to the Buffalo Bills for Kiko Alonso, who played college ball at Oregon. Kelly coached at Oregon and has brought in a lot of former players from the University. The Eagles also traded away their starting quarterback, Nick Foles, to the St. Louis Rams for Sam Bradford, who has torn his ACL the last two years.
Last offseason the Eagles shocked everyone by releasing star wide receiver DeSean Jackson.
Over the last year the Eagles have been criticized for cutting ties with their best players. After McCoy was traded away, he stated that Kelly was "getting rid of all the good black players." At the time, most fans didn't put much or any stock into McCoy's remark. It came across as an upset player who just got traded to Buffalo.
But, for some reason, the theme continues with disgruntled players and Kelly.
The Eagles traded away cornerback Brandon Boykin to the Pittsburgh Steelers on Aug. 1 for just a fifth round draft pick. After getting traded, Boykin responded by saying Kelly is "uncomfortable around grown men of our culture."
Former Eagles offensive lineman Tra Thomas, who played with the team for 11 seasons, even voiced his opinion. Thomas was not re-signed this offseason as the Eagles offensive line coach, and he didn't appreciate that.
"One of the things that you're seeing right now, and these are the things that you have heard from the locker room from different players is that they feel like there is a hint of racism," Thomas said.
And then of course, there's Riley Cooper. Cooper was caught shouting racist remarks at a Kenny Chesney concert in 2013. He has since been re-signed to a five year deal, and it doesn't end there. In an incredibly weird coincidence, or planned idea, Cooper was the featured player on the Eagles calendar for this February. February is, of course, African-American History Month in the United States.
Who would have thought the Eagles would be the most talked about team of this offseason, and it wouldn't even involve Tim Tebow?
Kelly recently responded to the media.
"I think that Riley made a mistake. That's part of it. We all backed him. Michael Vick backed him. Jason Avant backed him. I think that's part of being in an organization and on a team. I look at that as a specific incident where he was 100-percent wrong. Those are things that should never be said. I hope he learned his lesson. I think he regrets what he did that day, every single day. I see that in him. Do I regret what I did in terms of how we handled Riley? No, I don't," said Kelly on Tuesday.
So what the heck is going on in the City of Brotherly Love?
Obviously there is no true 100 percent proof Kelly is racist, but we've never really seen this much negative backlash from players regarding an NFL coach in such a short period. Even Aqib Talib took some shots at Bill Belichick when he left in free agency to the Denver Broncos last year, but this relentless disapproval certainly raises a few eyebrows.
Something is going on in Philadelphia. There may not be a huge fire yet, but there is quite a bit of smoke. It may just be Kelly showing his dominance and who's in charge. He wants full control, and owner Jeffrey Lurie has given it to him. Winning cures all in the NFL. If the Eagles can win the NFC East this season and win in the playoffs, many fans will forget about all of this. If the team misses the playoffs, however, that's a whole different story.
Follow Damon Salvadore on Twitter @DamonSalvadore1